Homestead and Kinkaid Act - Abraham Lincoln and Moses Kinkaid

[Liz Rosenthal]

(07-18-2013 08:46 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Several sources say that Lincoln, due to the war and his adherence to the Whig theory of the presidency, had just little to do with most of the enactments and measures he signed (thus also with the Homestead Act). Was it really like this? And what about his two pocket vetoes? (Especially his refusal to sign the Wade-Davis Bill, I would doubt this was just a "passive" action).

I think that that was David Herbert Donald's argument. Personally, I think he was just trying to come up with an original way of looking at Lincoln's presidency. Every Lincoln author has to have a new "twist" on the scholarship to justify their publications. This was Donald's twist.

I wish I could recall where, but I've gotten the impression from a number of sources that Lincoln was a lot more involved, behind-the-scenes, with Federal legislation than Donald has given him credit for. (Also, certain modern-day scholars take issue with Donald's thesis of Lincoln's alleged passivity.) It's worth noting that most of the landmark legislation of Lincoln's presidency had started out on the 1860 Republican Party platform, and that those policies were derived in large part from old Whig Party aspirations that never went anywhere because of Democratic - and southern - opposition. Once the southern states seceded and their Congressional representatives left Washington, the path was cleared toward passage of a lot of legislation that hadn't had a chance before.

Part of the problem may be that much of Lincoln's legislative work as president was done "off the record" - i.e., in meetings, but not "reduced to paper." The same can be said of many other aspects of his presidency. He managed the political situations in the states very deftly, to his advantage, and a good amount of this was done behind-the-scenes. He also orchestrated the selection of Andrew Johnson as his v.p. running mate in 1864 (the biggest mistake of his political career). His secretary, John G. Nicolay, took issue with those people, such as Alexander McClure, a Pennsylvanian politico, who insisted, years later, that putting Johnson on the ticket was Lincoln's decision. But it is evident that, despite their close relationship, Lincoln did not tell Nicolay everything.

Meanwhile, I take issue with some of Donald's other original ideas, too. He insisted that Lincoln was a poor impromptu speaker - and/or that Lincoln was not good at "thinking on his feet" - but there is ample evidence that the opposite was true. Donald also suggested that Lincoln broke off his engagement with Mary Todd because Lincoln had never had sex and was terrified of it. Yeah, right. Donald was an excellent writer, but perhaps too imaginative a fellow.